Pilot reflects on experience at Northern Edge

  • Published
  • By Army Sgt. Ricardo Branch
  • Northern Edge 2009 Joint Information Bureau
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  In Northern Edge, Alaska's premier joint-training exercise, pilots from the Air Force, Navy and Marines are conducting fast-paced, aerial battles to challenge and test participating units on the Northern frontier. 

For one Navy pilot, Lt. Michael Patterson, from the Navy Strike Air Warfare Center, the exercise is an opportunity to soar through the skies and engage other pilots from the other services in his aircraft. 

"We're here as the opposing force to the Air Force, to help provide the training for air-to-air combat," he said. "What we're doing is replicating the tactics that potential adversaries put out to provide our forces with good, realistic training." 

Patterson - a 30-year-old, Philadelphia native - conducts his training with an F-18 Hornet, which provides more realistic scenarios because of the aircraft's diverse capabilities in the sky. 

"For versatility, you can't beat an F-18 Hornet; it can do just about everything in the air and on land," he said. "It's a great aircraft for this exercise." 

According to Patterson, the Alaskan environment allows for more maneuverability in the skies. 

"The air space here is such a large open environment, so there's lots of training opportunities," he said. "We usually fly over the Gulf of Alaska, where a majority of our exercises have taken place [allowing for fewer restrictions due to encroachment]." 

Patterson has participated in flights spanning from short two hour missions, to four and five hour flight operations. Besides his flights, he fills his day with multiple briefings and preflight inspections. 

"All that pain with having to wake up early, attend the briefings, and put on all the uncomfortable gear, all that stuff goes out the window as soon as you get in the jet and take off," he said. "Flying is an experience that makes this all worth it." 

The actual experience of flying is hard to describe for Patterson. He does, however, have one word to relate the feeling for anyone curious about what goes through his head -rollercoaster. 

"That's probably the best analogy I'd say to someone wondering what the feeling is like," he said. "It's like a rollercoaster but a lot smoother. Every time you do it, it's fun. 

Sometimes I lose perspective of what it's like until I am up there and realize how much fun this is. It's a great opportunity, and I feel lucky to be able to go through it." 

The trip to Alaska may be drawing to a close for Patterson, but the joys of flying will continue for him. He's flown now for approximately eight years and enjoys each day on the job, but the real joy comes from the people he works beside. 

"It's really the people that make this job worth it," he said. "The flying is great, that alone is probably enough to keep me in, but it's really the people I work with that really make it worthwhile - If I keep having this much fun, I'll be in for a long, long time."